Collateral

Written by Ellen Hopkins

Narrated by Rebekkah Ross

From the New York Times bestselling author of the novel Triangles—a gorgeous, “raw and riveting tale of love and forgiveness” (Publishers Weekly) about a woman torn between her love for a dedicated Marine and her resentment of the war that is tearing their lives apart.

The last thing Ashley ever expected was to end up a military wife. But Cole doesn’t match her stereotype of the aggressive Marine. He’s pas­sionate and romantic, and their relationship evolves into a deeply felt, sexually charged love affair that survives four deployments. Cole desper­ately wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a college professor, she begins to see what life might be like outside the shadow of war.

Written in Ellen Hopkins’s stunning poetic verse style, Collateral cap­tures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of their friends, family, and lovers who also sacrifice their lives and happiness for their country at war. Is the collateral damage worth the fight?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Nov 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781442346871

Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous young adult novels, as well as the adult novels such as Triangles, Collateral, and Love Lies Beneath. She lives with her family in Carson City, Nevada, where she has founded Ventana Sierra, a nonprofit youth housing and resource initiative. Follow her on Twitter at @EllenHopkinsLit.

Reviews for Collateral

[sparkleponies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Older high schoolers would enjoy this book.  

[curvymommy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked Ellen Hopkins' novel in verse Triangles (I stayed up all night reading it), so I was eager to read her latest work, Collateral. However, this story didn't grab hold of me like the story in Triangles.Told in alternating past and present time, Collateral is the story of the relationship between Ashley, a grad student at San Diego State, and Cole, a United States Marine. Theirs is a passionate relationship, but also a volatile one. The story spans 5 years, with Cole being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times, and Ashley left behind to deal with the emotional trauma of having a loved one deployed to a war zone.In the author's signature "novel in verse" style, she accurately portrays the impact - the collateral, if you will - of being in love with a soldier. It's a difficult road to travel, with the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. You can see the deepening impact that being deployed has on Cole, and in turn, the impact on Ashley, who increasingly depends on alcohol and pills to make it through. I thought the ending was unfortunately realistic, shocking, and sad, but not in the way you might expect.My only quibble with the story was the poems that were "written by" Ashley and Cole. They didn't fit with the rest of the novel at all. Maybe that is my general dislike of modern poetry coming through, but about halfway through the book, I started skipping over those to get back to the main story verse.An interesting story that makes you think about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on not only the men and women serving our country, but also their families at home.

[Kayla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it. Wasn’t what I was expecting but I wasn’t bored.

[sunshine608 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It took some time getting used to the verse style of this book and I'm about 90% sure that my ebook version had some major formatting issues ( or else I got less from this than I thought).

Overall I found the story enjoyable although sometime it did get confusing going back and forth in the verse style. The ending left a lot to be desired though.

[bonniemarjorie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A review copy of Collateral was kindly provided to me by Atria Books.

'Each returning soldier is an in-the-flesh memoir of war. Their chapters might vary, but similar imagery fills the pages, and the theme of every book is the same - profound change. The big question became, could I live with that kind of change?'

Alternating between the past and present, Collateral tells the story of Ashley and a marine named Cole. How they met. How they fell in love. How Ashley was transformed by Cole's deployment and how she struggled to make it through by using pills and alcohol to quiet her constant fears. Collateral was a deeply moving story that tells the tale of the one left behind in time of war, and how life can be when you love a soldier.

Collateral is a realistic story in every sense because the war depicted within the pages is the exact war we're all living with today. Just as dark, gritty, and emotional as her other works with just enough hint at reality to make you wonder just how fictional it really is. Collateral does showcase the ‘worst-case scenario’ of loving a soldier, but that certainly makes it no less tangible. My heart ached for Ashley, her pain being so evident. I loved the snippets of Cole’s poetry, being able to see his outlook on his life in contrast with Ashley’s. Ellen Hopkins is truly an amazing writer and I'm so thankful for her stories. She uses no different words than any normal person but the way she uses them ends up turning them into something truly profound.

'Alone in this untamed
empty place, I free
a relentless volley
of words. They
rage
against the pages, a torrent
of what was, what is,
what yet may come.
And when at last the spirits
recede,
I find echoed
in their retreat, stories
I dare not give voice to -
nightmares set adrift
in my paper harbor.'

[slvoight_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. I found I did not really enjoy the book even though the story line was ok. I just did not like the jumping back and forth between past and present(my personal preference).

[thelostentwife · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Collateral is the first book I've read by Ellen Hopkins and I approached it with hopeful optimism - mostly because I had heard that it was written in free verse style and, after having immersed myself in poetry this year, I thought it would be fun to try something like this.At first the story really worked for me. It was the same story told a hundred times over - girl meets boy, boy is charming/cute/wonderful/strong/respectful/perfect, boy is in the military and is taken away from girl, etc... All of this told through free-verse that was simple and easy to read. The story in its most condensed form. Then things got a little weird for me. You see, the boy in this case is a poet and the love interest takes his poetry to her professor and has her professor read it, and the professor proclaims about the talent of the boy (essentially indicating that he is talented and wasted in the military). All of those things are fine on their own except for one: the complimenting of the poetry. This is where things really started to rub me the wrong way. If you are an author who writes in free-style poetry a story and then, in a round-about way, compliments your own poetry, it just makes me go "ick" a little bit. Because, honestly, the book would have been just fine had Cole not been a poet - sure there would have been tweaks needed here or there, but writing poetry and then writing in another poem how wonderful your previous poem was... yeah, it just didn't work for me.And, sadly, that spoiled the rest of the book. It's funny how little things like that can color the way a reader interacts with a story but, as time has proven in my case, one of my biggest pet peeves is the patting of oneself on the pack through fictional characters.p.s. The rhyming poems really didn't work for me. Please stick to the free-verse, Ms. Hopkins.

[erinhill01 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this is a gut-wrenching emotional tale of love and passion between a civilian and a soldier. Their relationship survives years of separation and deployments. But will their commitment, love, and determination be enough? Ashley is forced to make a choice to marry the man she loves and live a life full of war and uncertainty or to give herself a chance of a normal life outside of military. But will the soldier who owns her heart make the decision for her?Ashley and Cole are well-developed and likable characters. I shed tears and laughter for both of them throughout this novel and wanted nothing more than for them to finally have their happy ever after. But life (and books) do not always go the way you want them to. The ending was heart breaking, but sadly realistic. Collateral is beautifully written in Hopkins' signature poetic verse style that alternates between present and past. This book flows well and draws you in from the first words. I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

[bookgirljen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really liked Ellen Hopkins' novel in verse Triangles (I stayed up all night reading it), so I was eager to read her latest work, Collateral. However, this story didn't grab hold of me like the story in Triangles.Told in alternating past and present time, Collateral is the story of the relationship between Ashley, a grad student at San Diego State, and Cole, a United States Marine. Theirs is a passionate relationship, but also a volatile one. The story spans 5 years, with Cole being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times, and Ashley left behind to deal with the emotional trauma of having a loved one deployed to a war zone.In the author's signature "novel in verse" style, she accurately portrays the impact - the collateral, if you will - of being in love with a soldier. It's a difficult road to travel, with the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. You can see the deepening impact that being deployed has on Cole, and in turn, the impact on Ashley, who increasingly depends on alcohol and pills to make it through. I thought the ending was unfortunately realistic, shocking, and sad, but not in the way you might expect.My only quibble with the story was the poems that were "written by" Ashley and Cole. They didn't fit with the rest of the novel at all. Maybe that is my general dislike of modern poetry coming through, but about halfway through the book, I started skipping over those to get back to the main story verse.An interesting story that makes you think about the impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on not only the men and women serving our country, but also their families at home.